No more argument.
These three words blocked all of Yang Lun's anger.
If he was ashamed of being in the cabinet, then when he stood in front of Deng Ying, Yang Lun's emotions were so complicated that even he couldn't explain it clearly. But he just couldn't allow himself to have pity for this person.
It's not that he doesn't have the means to save his life.
He was the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and concurrently the eunuch in charge of the East Factory. Just as Bai Yuyang was worried about, he could completely cover up the eyes and ears of the young emperor like Yixian did.
But he lowered his hands and said he would not argue.
"Why don't you argue?"
Yang Lun asked without thinking.
Deng Ying looked at the crowd on the main street and said calmly, "It's hard to say. If I hadn't been castrated, would I have been among them?"
This sentence seems to confirm Yang Wan's words "forge a knife and kill yourself".
When Deng Ying thought of that sentence, she actually felt a little warm.
He looked up at Yang Lun, "Zi Xi, I've been down and out in my life, but I've done everything I should have done. If it weren't for Wan Wan, I would have wanted to bury my broken body a long time ago. But she hasn't left me yet, so... even if I hate myself, I still want to live longer. But no matter what, I can't betray the original intention of choosing this path - not to let those who serve the country suffer injustice. The cases they are overturning are all overturned, so let them overturn them. I..."
He paused, then smiled, "I'll go back and eat beef."
Yang Lun watched him pass by him in silence, then turned around and called out, "Fu Ling."
Deng Ying turned around and said, "I want to have one."
Yang Lun said, "Wait a moment, I'll go buy some oranges for Wan'er."
Deng Ying was startled for a moment, then nodded and smiled, "Okay."
**
In the inner hall of the Eastern Investigation Bureau, Yang Wan was sitting alone in front of the gate.
She was actually a little tired, and felt sleepy when the wind blew at the door. She simply leaned against the door frame and closed her eyes for a nap, but who would have thought that she actually fell asleep.
I didn't know how long I slept, but suddenly someone pulled me out with great force and started to scold me.
"You told me to go home but you didn't. Instead you came here and slept at the door."
After saying that, he turned around and yelled at the people behind him, "She has been ill recently, did you know that?"
Yang Wan opened her eyes in a daze, and saw that the person who was pulling her was Yang Lun. She also saw Deng Ying standing behind him and didn't dare to say a word. She couldn't help but raised her head and laughed.
Yang Lun said angrily: "What are you laughing at?"
Yang Wan let him carry her and said to him, "I haven't seen you for a long time, I'm glad to see you."
After hearing this, Yang Lun immediately stopped arguing, let go of Yang Wan's arm and said, "Whether you come back home or not, I will make the decision for you."
He said, pointing his finger at Deng Ying, "Tell me what he has done wrong recently, and I will settle with him today."
Yang Wan turned sideways and looked towards Deng Ying, smiling, "Did you hear that? Let's settle the accounts."
Deng Ying responded: "I heard it, I accept the punishment."
Yang Wan said to Yang Lun: "Don't mention me, go in and eat beef, Yun Qing and sister will teach me how to cook, my cooking skills have improved."
Yang Lun said with a straight face: "Okay, I'll try it today."
After saying that, he let go of Yang Wan and walked straight into the door.
Yang Wan took Deng Ying's hand and asked, "What happened to Captain Qin?"
Deng Ying said: "You also know it."
"Well, I guess you'll go save him, and then get scolded."
Deng Ying laughed and asked, "You're not angry?"
"Why am I angry?"
As she spoke, she straightened the clothes that were wrinkled by Yang Lun, "I'm used to it."
He then turned to the yamen and asked, "Do you guys want to drink today?"
Deng Ying talked to him and said, "I can't drink much, but if Zixi wants to drink, I can accompany you."
Yang Wan turned around and said, "He must want to drink with you. You guys take a seat first. I'll go buy some wine."
"No need, Wanwan, there is wine in the yamen, I'll go get it."
**
A small gathering in early summer.
A pot of stewed beef and two jars of Huadiao wine. Deng Ying's diet was limited, so she only drank a few glasses.
Yang Lun was restrained at first, but lost control when he got excited. When the jar of wine was empty, Yang Wan snatched the cup away from him. But he was not angry at all. He sat in the armchair for a while with a red face, then suddenly stood up and said he wanted to go out for some fresh air.
Yang Wan stood up, gathered her clothes, and went out with him.
The April wind blew gently on the two of them. They were sweating after drinking, and the breeze made their sides feel cold. Yang Lun burped and reached out to pat his face.
"What are you doing here?"
Yang Wan leaned against the door and said, "Come out and keep an eye on you. We're afraid you'll be upset."
"I can't think straight?"
Yang Lun smiled bitterly, "Yang Wan, how do you think it's okay?"
Yang Wan shook her head, "I haven't thought it through."
Yang Lun turned sideways and said, "Then why don't you scold him?"
Yang Wan was silent for a while before saying, "You know that your good days are going to end, but you are still angry with him and don't live a good life. Isn't that stupid? You said we are fine now. If I didn't want you to avoid suspicion, I would invite you to Qingbo Restaurant more often. After everyone finishes their work, we can have a hot pot together."
Yang Lun rubbed his itchy eyes and said, "If it was me who got into trouble, your sister-in-law's eyes would have been swollen from crying by now, so why would she have the heart to eat the pot?"
Yang Wan lowered her head and said softly, "There's no need to hurt him with tears at this time. What I like is his original intention towards Ming Dynasty. He has never changed his mind, which proves that I love him well."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and said, "If you're drunk, I'll ask someone to take you home."
"No, I'll just take a walk."
"Okay, I'll walk you to the door."
The two of them walked through the cross door together, and Yang Lun asked casually, "Qingbo Pavilion, is there anything going on recently?"
Yang Wan said calmly, "Oh, sometimes someone comes to burn a few books, but with the Military Affairs Department and the Northern Pacification Department, there is no big commotion. I have temporarily stopped the affairs of the inner court, so I have been free these few days."
Yang Lun tilted his head and said, "His Majesty misses you and the Queen very much. The Queen can no longer enter the palace, but you can. If you have nothing to do, please go back to the inner court."
Yang Wan shook her head. "The Liulichang case and the Tongjia case are both being retried. Your Majesty will be embarrassed to see me."
"Wan'er."
Yang Lun pleaded, "You can beg for mercy."
Yang Wan pursed her lips and said, "I don't ask for mercy."
"Why?"
Yang Wan stopped and said, "Because he has done nothing wrong, why should he kneel down and beg for forgiveness? Who can forgive him? In this world, no one except Mr. Zhang is qualified to make him kneel down. I won't kneel either. I will live beside him. How can this world treat us?"
Yang Lun glanced behind Yang Wan, shook his head and said, "I don't know whether he committed sins or accumulated virtues in his previous life, but ended up in this situation in this life, and met you again."
Yang Wan smiled and said, "I don't know whether he committed sins or accumulated virtues, but I must have accumulated virtues."
"Just talk nonsense while he's not around."
He rubbed his itchy eyes and said, "I'm fine. Take good care of yourself. No matter what happens in the future, you can always come home."
"I know."
After saying this, Yang Wan stopped and watched Yang Lun walk out of the door before heading towards the inner hall.
The wine and meat had gone cold, and Deng Ying fell asleep on the table. He couldn't drink much, and would feel dizzy even if he drank a little. In addition, he had not slept enough for several days, so he gradually fell into a deep sleep.
Yang Wan rolled up her sleeves to clean up the mess on the table, washed her hands and came back to sit down next to him. Seeing Deng Ying's sleeping face, she couldn't help but touch his nose.
Deng Ying coughed but did not wake up.
A breeze streamed in through the window, gently blowing his robe. He faced the wind, which sometimes made his bones look out of shape.
Yang Wan also lay down beside him. The eyes from outside gradually faded away. Thick clouds moved in. The fishy smell of earth diffused faintly from the grass and trees, mixed with the smell of wine and meat, but it was not very unpleasant.
The rain fell gently, and soon it got heavier.
Yang Wan raised her head towards the eaves. The rain flowed under the eaves and formed a curtain of water, like a fragile barrier, wrapping her and Deng Ying in the middle.
Yang Wan rested her head on Deng Ying's arm and closed her eyes.
Half of the early years of the Jinghe period had passed.
The historical Deng Yingchao was born in the autumn of this year.
"Count the autumn sounds and listen to the short dreams, the rain falls on the banana leaves under the eaves."
Yang Wan wrote this sentence on the last page of her notes.
At the end of April, the murder case of the wife and children of Tongjia Academy was transferred to the East Factory Prison by Shuntian Prefecture. The Inspectorate was full of criticism, and the Liulichang case and Tongjia case were retried and overturned. The impeachment memorials against Deng Ying flew to the cabinet like snowflakes. Bai Yuyang piled all these memorials on Yang Lun's desk. While Yang Lun was struggling to write the draft, Yang Wan turned to the first page of her notes in Qingbo Pavilion.
On that page it was written:
In the twelfth year of Zhenning, in the torture chamber of Nanhai Zi, Deng Ying had a huge misunderstanding of me. He thought I was the only woman in the world at that time who had not given up on his remaining life. In fact, I was just a female pervert in the academic world who was trying to grab first-hand information from him.
The text is in English.
The sense of humor in her writing, like the sense of disconnection she once felt from this era, has gradually become somewhat unfamiliar.
In fact, she is not an academic pervert. She is a careful recorder, a professional historical researcher, and one of the few warm-hearted people in the vast crowd.
Yang Wan tore off the page, spread out another piece of rice paper in front of her, grinded the ink with her sleeves, and filled the tip of the pen. Her strokes were straight, and she tried to follow modern grammar as much as possible, but her writing was not deliberately elegant.
In the summer of the early years of the Jinghe period, she began to translate the notebook herself.
Compared with the "Biography of Deng Ying", this "running account" has no system, no logic, no reference to any literature, and no systematic research theory to support it. It is just her personal opinion. From a professional perspective, this cannot be regarded as a serious academic work, but it is her most complete understanding of the Ming Dynasty, where Deng Ying lived, as a researcher.
She sorted and revised it day and night, and her cough became more and more serious.
Song Yunqing helped her to see a doctor, but there was no improvement after taking the medicine.
However, what made her speechless was that she started to lose her hair, just like when she was writing her doctoral thesis.
Yang Yu advised her, "It's not good to keep going like this."
Yang Wan just smiled and said, "People who write articles work hard, but I can't compare with them."
Yang Yu said: "That person is doing it for fame and status, what are you doing it for?"
Yang Wan lowered her head to look at the ink words under her hand.
"I am one too, just for the name."
Yang Yu said: "Wan'er, you are not someone who seeks fame."
"Seeking fame for others is also a way of life."